Special Materials
In Veltheria, a number of 'special materials '''are available. These are generally the result of alchemy, which was already an advanced art before the discovery of the Keystone of Bond. The special materials listed are all alchemically refined, extracted or modified from a mundane material called the principal. The exception to this is yliaster, which is directly (and carefully) sourced from the Maelstrom where all elements reside in an ideal form. Auriaster Auriaster ('star of gold') is perhaps the strangest of Veltheria's special materials, because its principal is light. The light must be thaumically pure, so was generally sourced from the golden hour sun, or full moon, until the development of sunstone (see below). The light is captured in specially formulated lodestones, and techniques known by only a few alchemists are applied. Ordinarily, light is a wave through the Aether, similar to how sound is a wave through the air; when forced into these special lodestones in the correct way, the light is pushed out of the Aether and uses the crystal as its medium. From that point forward, the light behaves as a fluid; this is auriaster. Auriaster can be disordered or ordered; disordered auriaster is often simple called 'spun light', and is used for fuelling thaumatic devices. Lodestones infused with spun light are known as 'glimmerstones'. Ordered auriaster is easy to distinguish, for lodestones infused with it show the distinctive three-dimensional crisscross patterns throughout the crystal. Ordered lodestones can be used to process and store information, and have revolutionised thaumatics, leading to the creation of eidolons. Feriaster Feriaster (‘star of iron’) is a magically transmuted metal produced by applying properties to iron that have been derived from other metals, or less commonly ''vice versa. Usually this is to create lighter or harder forms of steel. Feriaster is the backbone of most structures, allowing structures which can be taller and sturdier than traditional materials would allow. Feriaster also forms the chassis of voidships. Mithril Mithril ('moon glass' in an ancient dwarven language) is the common name for argaster, ('star of silver'). It is a silvery substance with the properties of both a metal and a ceramic. It is extraordinarily light, but sturdy, and able to take a sharp edge. Mithril is resilient in the face of thaumic influence, and is often used for the storage of magical objects, even the Keystones. Given its resilience and low weight, mithril is used to form the outer hulls of voidships. Sunstone Sunstone was initially developed to purify sunlight for the creation of auriaster, allowing auriaster to be created with sunlight from any time of day. As the crystal removed the thaumic impurities, however, like all filters it took those impurities into itself, leaving a faintly golden quartz-like crystal, technically refered to as 'auric sunstone'. Auric sunstone has the curious property of being very sensitive to exposure to spun light, and if a shard stone is placed in contact with a piece of sunstone, the sunstone becomes both harder and charged with thaumic power. This has led to the development of sunstone weaponry and cutting tools. Yliaster Yliaster 'star-stuff', known in alchemical circles as philosophers' stone, is the primal material. It can be given any set of physical properties (though with no guarantee that a particular combination of properties will result in a stable substance). Yliaster was hypothesised to exist when Ylias was discovered, yet initially it was conflated with Aether or 'quintessence'. It was at last confirmed to exist in the realm of the Maelstrom, at the point where all of the elements either combined or originated. Even now, careful planar magic is needed in order to extract raw yliaster from the Maelstrom, and some philosophers work tirelessly to find a way to purify common matter into this primal form.